How do you think the power of words is used and how do you think words affect people? This book takes place in Nazi Germany and is narrated by Death. The author highlights the capability of words throughout the book. He uses examples of how words affect people and how people use words through the entire book. In Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, words are essential to the characters because they are used for self-expression, to influence and control others, and they allow the characters to travel to different places and share adventures.
Words, in The Book Thief, are used by the characters to express themselves. When Liesel writes The Book Thief in her basement, she tells the reader about her life from her point of view. ¨For hours she wrote, …show more content…
In Max’s The Word Shaker, that he left for Liesel when he departed, it talks about Hitler’s tactics of using words to gain support. “His first plan of attack was to plant the words in as many areas of his homeland as possible. He planted them day and night, and cultivated them. He watched them grow, until eventually, great forests of words had risen throughout Germany… It was a nation of farmed thoughts” (Zusak, 445). Hitler used words to spread his ideas and convince people to follow him. He allowed his ideas to grow and as they grew so did his control over people. Another example of this is when the Nazis had the book burning, they burned everything they considered contraband and anti-nazism. They destroyed the words they knew could be harmful to Hitler’s regime. “We put an end to the disease that has been spread through Germany for the last twenty years, if not more” (Zusak, 110). “The orange flames waved at the crowd as paper and print dissolved inside them. Burning words were torn from their sentences” (Zusak, 112). The Nazis were afraid of other ideas that could ruin their control over the people. They wanted to get rid of ideas that could make people question Hitler. The Nazis also used this as a show of power and they used this to help the people feel like they had more power and control too because they were destroying things and ideas made by the Jews and other …show more content…
One example of this is when Ilsa Hermann shares her library with Liesel. Liesel loves to read and this opens up many new experiences and possibilities for her. “Books everywhere! … It was one of the most beautiful things Liesel Meminger had ever seen. With wonder, she smiled. That such a room existed” (Zusak, 134). This room opens up many new stories for Liesel and she experiences many new things when she reads these books. She learns from them and they allow her to travel outside Nazi Germany and see different things. Liesel reading in the bomb shelter is also another example of how words allow the characters to travel to different places and share adventures. Liesel begins to read to everyone in their street’s bomb shelter, while they wait till it’s safe to exit. The people in the bomb shelter even start to look forward to and expect it. “For at least twenty minutes, she handed out the story. The youngest children were soothed by her voice, and everyone else saw visions of the whistler running from the crime scene” (Zusak, 381). The words from the story helped the people in the bomb shelter reduce their anxiety and get lost in the words of the story. It calmed everyone down and allowed Liesel to share this story to other people. It also helped people temporarily forget their situation. Words allow people to be transported to different places and they
Words, in The Book Thief, are used by the characters to express themselves. When Liesel writes The Book Thief in her basement, she tells the reader about her life from her point of view. ¨For hours she wrote, …show more content…
In Max’s The Word Shaker, that he left for Liesel when he departed, it talks about Hitler’s tactics of using words to gain support. “His first plan of attack was to plant the words in as many areas of his homeland as possible. He planted them day and night, and cultivated them. He watched them grow, until eventually, great forests of words had risen throughout Germany… It was a nation of farmed thoughts” (Zusak, 445). Hitler used words to spread his ideas and convince people to follow him. He allowed his ideas to grow and as they grew so did his control over people. Another example of this is when the Nazis had the book burning, they burned everything they considered contraband and anti-nazism. They destroyed the words they knew could be harmful to Hitler’s regime. “We put an end to the disease that has been spread through Germany for the last twenty years, if not more” (Zusak, 110). “The orange flames waved at the crowd as paper and print dissolved inside them. Burning words were torn from their sentences” (Zusak, 112). The Nazis were afraid of other ideas that could ruin their control over the people. They wanted to get rid of ideas that could make people question Hitler. The Nazis also used this as a show of power and they used this to help the people feel like they had more power and control too because they were destroying things and ideas made by the Jews and other …show more content…
One example of this is when Ilsa Hermann shares her library with Liesel. Liesel loves to read and this opens up many new experiences and possibilities for her. “Books everywhere! … It was one of the most beautiful things Liesel Meminger had ever seen. With wonder, she smiled. That such a room existed” (Zusak, 134). This room opens up many new stories for Liesel and she experiences many new things when she reads these books. She learns from them and they allow her to travel outside Nazi Germany and see different things. Liesel reading in the bomb shelter is also another example of how words allow the characters to travel to different places and share adventures. Liesel begins to read to everyone in their street’s bomb shelter, while they wait till it’s safe to exit. The people in the bomb shelter even start to look forward to and expect it. “For at least twenty minutes, she handed out the story. The youngest children were soothed by her voice, and everyone else saw visions of the whistler running from the crime scene” (Zusak, 381). The words from the story helped the people in the bomb shelter reduce their anxiety and get lost in the words of the story. It calmed everyone down and allowed Liesel to share this story to other people. It also helped people temporarily forget their situation. Words allow people to be transported to different places and they